After thirteen and half years in prison for kidnapping and murdering the boy Park Won-mo, Geum-ja Lee is released and tries to fix her life. She finds a job in a bakery; she orders the ... See full summary »

Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a ... See full summary »

In the DMZ separating North and South Korea, two North Korean soldiers have been killed, supposedly by one South Korean soldier. But the 11 bullets found in the bodies, together with the 5 ... See full summary »

In 1986, in the province of Gyunggi, in South Korea, a second young and beautiful woman is found dead, raped and tied and gagged with her underwear. Detective Park Doo-Man and Detective Cho... See full summary »

Storyline

After thirteen and half years in prison for kidnapping and murdering the boy Park Won-mo, Geum-ja Lee is released and tries to fix her life. She finds a job in a bakery; she orders the manufacturing of a special weapon; she reunites with her daughter, who was adopted by an Australian family; and she plots revenge against the real killer of Won-mo, the English teacher Mr. Baek. With the support of former inmates from prison, Geum-ja seeks an unattained redemption with her vengeance. Written by
Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Technical Specs

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Having wanted to make a film on a middle aged woman's revenge, the director originally considered casting Du-shim Ko for the part of Geum-ja. However, he had to abandon his plan for a couple of reasons. He found that Ms. Ko was rather old for the character and was afraid that the movie would look quite similar to John Cassavetes' Gloria (1980). See more »

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User Reviews

Chan-Wook Park was already the Master of Dysfunction after Old Boy, now he can add the title of King of Pain (thanks Sting) to his CV.

The depth of feeling in the second half of this film is staggering, and comes in stark contrast to the startling apathy of the first half. The masterful cinematography is something we have come to expect but the director's ability to compose the most evocative of tableaux never ceases to amaze- the final shot of the movie being a case in point.

As the above reviewer says, one must be cryptic in commenting on this film but it must be said that its final act really transforms it from a beautifully crafted work into a masterpiece.

This is a film which shocks without ever descending into gratuity, while frequently forcing a guilty laugh with its darker-than-black's-shadow humour.

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